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My View on Game to Film Adaptations

I’m of the opinion that reimagining a video game as a movie is a double-edged sword. I’ve seen this work in some cases, resulting in a nicely fleshed-out film that tells a good story. In other cases, the adaptation is a directionless, over-the-top mess and not worth the money. Granted, I prefer not to pass judgment until I’ve seen a film for myself, but I’ve found video game adaptions to be either hit or miss.

I believe part of the problem is that it’s hard to condense a game that contains hours upon hours of content down to a two to three hour movie. Or Hollywood will try unsuccessfully to build a story from a game that doesn’t really have one, as is the case with Angry Birds.

Below is my list of the video game adaptations that I’ve seen and my opinion of them.

1) Resident Evil live action films – I am a huge fan of the Resident Evil video games, and I was excited when I first heard there would be an adaptation back in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, I have been disappointed with the live action movie series as a whole. Too many liberties were taken with the franchise, such as the films revolving around a character named Alice and her struggles against the villainous Dr. Isaacs, neither of whom were present in the games. Of the dozens of iconic monsters in the video games, only five or six actually made it into the film adaptations. Even more frustrating, especially to me as a writer, is the lack of consistency in the movie series even though all six films were directed by the same person – the story in the sixth movie even directly contradicts the plot presented in the second. If you wish to discover what the game series is about, the live action films with Milla Jovovich are not the way to go.

2) Doom – Doom is a film that worked because the game had a simplistic plot that translated well to the silver screen. It’s hard to go wrong with the basic premise of combating creatures coming from a portal to hell that was inadvertently opened at a Mars colony. The film adaptation added an extra layer to this concept by introducing a pair of estranged siblings – a marine and a scientist – who must band together if they hope to survive. Granted, I know the film bombed at the box office, but it is one movie that I thoroughly enjoy and find worthy of a spot in my DVD library.

3) Mortal Kombat – Mortal Kombat is perhaps the best game-to-film adaptation I’ve seen. It is the one and only movie on this list that is the most faithful to its video game counterpart. The first Mortal Kombat film did a fantastic job fleshing out the characters and conflicts in addition to telling a good story. I wish the same were true of the sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. But I’ve yet to see another video game adaptation that’s on the same level.

4) Assassin’s Creed – Assassin’s Creed had potential to be a really great film since it had an excellent premise to draw from. Granted, I’ve never played any one of the games as of this point, but I would say that the film suffers from poor direction and lackluster storytelling. While Assassin’s Creed has some good elements, the pacing is too slow and it fails to delve into what motivates each of the central characters. In the hands of a production team with more vision, this movie could easily have been much more compelling.

5) Super Mario Brothers – Super Mario Brothers is a film that I initially liked in spite of its childish plot and over-the-top acting. The movie had some interesting concepts, such as a world where dinosaurs evolved to a human state. And I still get a kick out of hearing Dennis Hopper as the evil King Koopa, to get his men to hunt down the title characters, issue a “Plumber alert” like it’s an everyday occurrence. Super Mario Brothers isn’t necessarily a bad film. It is simply one that would appeal more to kids than adults.

6) House of the Dead – I’ve never played any of the House of the Dead games, but I do know they generally have you fighting zombie-esque creatures created by a mad scientist named Dr. Curien. The film took a step back to serve as a prequel to the first game and explain where Dr. Curien acquired the formula to manufacture these monsters. The House of the Dead movie presented an interesting plot in the trailers, which is what drew me to watch it. The ending, however, was anti-climactic and left a lot to be desired. That’s not to say I dislike this film. In my opinion, the fight choreography and some aspects of the cinematography balance out the flaws in the movie.

7) Silent Hill – Silent Hill is another film adaptation that is quite good. It does a fantastic job of matching the spooky atmosphere and nightmarish world presented in the first game. Not so much with the story – some liberties were taken there. The most notable difference between the movie and the first game is the inclusion of the iconic monster, Pyramid-Head, in the film – this particular character features only in the second game in the series and is not quite as threatening as he’s made out to be on the big screen. I would say the biggest failings of Silent Hill and it’s sequel is that there’s too much of an emphasis on acts of violence instead of quiet subtlety.

8) Prince of Persia: Sands of Time – I’ve never played the Prince of Persia games and I honestly don’t know how the movie compares to them as a whole. But I really like the film for its fantasy premise and use of a mystical dagger that can allow the holder to go back in time a few minutes to undo life-threatening situations. There are enough twists and turns in the movie to keep it interesting until the end. The only downside I encountered with Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was watching it with a drunk older brother who kept making me pause it so he could rant about the historical inaccuracies.

9) Mass Effect: Paragon Lost – Mass Effect: Paragon Lost is easily the poorest piece of cinema to make it onto this list. It seems to exist only as a way for the game creators to milk some more money for their franchise. Paragon Lost delves into the backstory of James Vega, a supporting character introduced in the third game in the Mass Effect trilogy. Overall, the film is a waste of money, doesn’t contribute anything meaningful to the games, and is poorly animated. My advice – find something better to watch.

10) Final Fantasy: Spirits Within – I know that the Final Fantasy game series started with medieval fantasy games before morphing into contemporary or futuristic adventures. But I don’t know if Spirits Within came before or after this transition. The first animated Final Fantasy film is set in the future and sees humanity struggling to survive against ghost-like monstrous entities set to wipe out the last dredges of mankind. Unfortunately, Spirits Within lacked a solid story and the ending didn’t make a lot of sense. While I got a bit of enjoyment out of it, I definitely would not recommend it.

Honorary mention: Wreck-It Ralph – The only film on the list that wasn’t adapted from a video game, Wreck-It Ralph is still one of the best movies out there for gaming enthusiasts. It is chock-full of characters from popular retro games, such as Q-Bert, Pac-Man, and Sonic the Hedgehog. And it tells a fantastic story centered around three separate fictional games – Fix-It Felix Jr., Sugar Rush, and Hero’s Duty – that exist together within the same arcade. I’m a lover of video games and stories with good plot twists, and Wreck-It Ralph has both. Two thumbs up.

I hope you enjoyed my critique of some of the video game adaptations out there. Do you agree or disagree with my views? Please let me know in the comments below.

My Introduction to Video Game Streaming

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I am someone who consistently loves trying something new. This has lent to me having a lot of hobbies, such as video games, writing, and photo manipulation. Overall, I would say I’m a very creative person with a passion for delving into games. I believe there have been times in my life where I wished I could make some sort of living from video games. I remember a period of time where I thought about seeking employment as a game tester, but nothing ever came of it. Nor did I have success in pursuing a degree in software engineering; that never panned out because a full-time job took priority over college courses.

About half a year ago, I started viewing videos on YouTube from a vlogger called Tipster. He is someone I gradually found I had much in common with and I started looking forward to whatever new videos he’d post. After several months, I started checking out live broadcasts (or streams) of his on a site called Twitch. Over time, more channels got added to my watch-list – among them Katastrophe, Stando, and YeskaYuggz, Tipster’s sister.

The more time I spent viewing streams, the more it felt like something I wanted to try for myself. This feeling was compounded when I viewed a YouTube video from Tipster on what it took to be a successful streamer. Providing a good commentary, engaging with your audience in the chat room, and just being yourself and having fun are key components to building a thriving Twitch channel.

The start of 2018 felt like a good time to try something new. After researching what I’d need to begin streaming, I bought a set of headphones with a mic attachment. On January 9^th, I broadcast my very first video game – Dead in Bermuda – from a Surface Book. The basic premise of the game is to keep the eight survivors of a plane crash alive until they can be rescued from the tropical island – not necessarily Bermuda – they’re stranded on. I had attempted multiple times to get through the game, but all of my playthroughs ended with two or more characters starving to death. The longest I lasted was around 29 days.

I started streaming Dead in Bermuda with the intent to survive for 50 days if possible. I don’t know if it’s because I was taking my time and thinking things through more, but I surprised myself by actually making some good headway this time. I started feeling more confident that I would make it through the entire game with all eight characters. This belief changed when one of the survivors – Illyana — died of illness on Day 47. The next night, her father, Yuri, succumbed to depression over losing her. Despite this setback, I ended my stream at the 50-day mark with the resolve to try to make it through the rest of the game with the remaining six characters. It might be difficult since Illyana and Yuri were the most skilled at researching and scavenging, but I aim to do my best.

On the flip side, my forays into streaming were just as much of a learning experience. When I reviewed the first couple videos I recorded, I discovered that the mic on the headphone wasn’t the best. In addition to picking up my voice really well, it also recorded every breath I took. I hate to use the term ‘mouth-breather’, but that is pretty much what it sounded like.

Prior to my final recording of Dead in Bermuda, I decided to invest in a webcam. I believed it might be good to have an alternate mic recording my commentary as well as have a visual of me reacting to the game. The one downside to this is that the volume of the game was too high. As I found out when I reviewed the recorded video afterward, the sound effects and music of Dead in Bermuda were so loud that it was drowning out my commentary at times.

Since I failed to gain much of an audience with Dead in Bermuda, I decided to switch to a more popular game on January 12. The one I picked this time was Party Hard, a satirical little game where the objective is to slaughter the participants of a given party without getting killed or arrested. Prior to starting my stream, I tweaked the game’s volume and moved the webcam video to a different corner of the screen so it wouldn’t obscure what I was doing within the game. I was much more animated in my commentary with Party Hard than I was with Dead in Bermuda. I felt more confident that I would start building an audience to my budding channel.

Unfortunately, I found out after I’d recorded 90 minutes of gameplay that I’d hit another snag. For whatever reason, the mic failed to record my voice at all for the entire broadcast!

While I haven’t yet recorded any further streams as of January 17, it is something I do plan to continue. I have been spending my time researching to avoid any further hiccups. I have also been brainstorming on ways to make my channel unique and entertaining enough that viewers will want to keep tuning in. And I have ideas geared toward putting together a background for the webcam that will better showcase my interests, such as reading and photo manipulation.

The bottom line is that streaming is something that I greatly enjoy so far. I could easily see myself doing this long term, even if I don’t gain much of a following from it. I’m glad to have some means of sharing my love of video games with like-minded individuals. And if I can entertain an audience while I’m at it, then all the better. It will mean I’ve finally found the perfect niche for myself.

For any readers who are interested in giving my channel a chance to see what I’m all about, be sure to tune in for the streams of Sahara4877 at https://www.twitch.tv/sahara4877.

Tags: Twitch, video games, streaming, Tipster, Dead in Bermuda, Party Hard, games

First Impressions of Not a Hero & End of Zoe

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I’ve been waiting a long time to play Not A Hero, an expansion pack, or DLC, to Resident Evil 7. Not a Hero was originally scheduled to be released in spring 2017, but the add-on got pushed back to December because the production crew felt the game wouldn’t meet the expectations of the fans. While I was anxious for answers to mysteries presented at the end of Resident Evil 7, I was also patient enough to wait for them.

My most burning questions centered around the soldier who claimed to be Chris Redfield, a veteran hero of the Resident Evil series. Was it really him? If so, why would he be working for a company calling itself Umbrella — the corrupt pharmaceutical company responsible for creating genetic-altering viruses and horrific monstrosities? What was the meaning behind the DLC title, Not a Hero?

Early on December 12, I loaded up Resident Evil 7, eager to play the DLC that I expected had been automatically downloaded the day before. I was surprised when I didn’t find Not a Hero listed among the menu options. The only new title present was End of Zoe, a secondary DLC title scheduled to be released the same day. I immediately shut down the game and searched for Not a Hero on my main gaming hub, the Steam Network. It wasn’t listed there either.

I searched for answers online, and found one forum that seemed to indicate the add-on would only become available upon completion of the main game. Not seeing any other option, I proceeded to play through Resident Evil 7 in its entirety. This took almost the whole day because I kept taking breaks at various points. The last thing I wanted to see after the closing credits was an ad for Not a Hero explaining how to download and install the DLC.

I was a bit aggravated to see that the desired title was now listed on the Steam Network. I don’t know if it was made available at some point during the day or if my playthrough of Resident Evil 7 unlocked it. In either case, I proceeded to install it with the intention of playing it the next day.

I woke up around 2AM on December 13. Rather than try to get back to bed, I chose to begin playing Not a Hero. I learned in the first few minutes of gameplay the main character is indeed Chris; he is voluntarily working with a new company called Blue Umbrella dedicated to fighting the horrors created by its namesake.

Not a Hero largely has Chris pursuing Lucas Baker, a sadistic madman and budding bioterrorist who had escaped capture during Resident Evil 7. The DLC, as with the base game, is told from a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the world through Chris’ eyes. Despite checking out trailers and tidbits on what to expect, I went into the game largely blind. I was very eager to uncover whatever mysteries and dangers awaited me.

Unfortunately, the lack of knowledge worked against me in several instances. I acted like such a noob during the first few hours of my playthrough, it’s a wonder I didn’t get killed more than four times.

I believed I had a pretty good arsenal at my disposal to begin with. A pistol, combat knife, shotgun, and several grenades seemed like they would be a good defense against the creatures lurking in the mines. I changed my mind when I first encountered a variant of the monster that could regenerate and wouldn’t go down so easily. I initially ran from it, then realized I had to go back in to retrieve a key needed to get to a soldier that Lucas had captured.

Trying to rescue said soldier didn’t go so well. I unlocked the cell door and approached him. The cave soon filled with poisoned air and started a death trap that Lucas had put together specifically for his prisoner. Rather than take an air filter that the doomed soldier offered to Chris, I stupidly tried to make a run for it even though my oxygen reserves had fallen to 5%. I was pretty much dead in an instant.

Once I retrieved the air filter and installed it, I was left with the problem of how to take out the regenerating monster in the cave where the key had been. After futilely trying to find special ammo that would stop the creature from healing, I cheated and looked online for tips. The answer was simple: go back to the main cavern and go through the green door to find a night vision filter and the needed ammo.

Upon going through what I thought was the right door, I found myself in a pitch-black tunnel. But I didn’t let that deter me, nor did I think I was in the wrong place. I blindly stumbled through the tunnel and proceeded to set off a variety of pressure-plate traps and tripwires. Surprisingly, I didn’t get killed during this determined search for items. I had just enough healing items to make it through in one piece.

I don’t know how long it took me to determine that the door I’d gone through was blue, not green. Once I figured that out, finding the items I needed was a cinch. The next challenge was to find my way back to the main cavern. I found that turrets had been set up in the tunnels I’d used to get to this point. Initially, I tried shooting the turrets to take them out — which didn’t work — and inadvertently used up the special ammo I’d collected. My answer on how to conquer the turret obstacle was to run past them to minimize the damage. Death #2.

When I loaded the last save point, I was given a tip on the loading screen to find an alternate route back to the main cavern. Once I got through that segment, I returned to the blue door. Finding my way through these tunnels went much smoother. At least until I reached a room where another soldier had been taken prisoner by Lucas. This area was loaded with laser tripwires and explosives. My first not-so-brilliant idea was to lob a grenade into the room to neutralize the bombs. Death #3.

Upon closer inspection, I found that it was possible to get through the room without setting off the tripwires. I carefully navigated my way to the imprisoned soldier and initiated a conversation with him. The next thing I knew, I heard Lucas taunting Chris over the intercom before the tripwires started rotating in my direction. Death #4.

On my third try at this, I discovered that I needed to cut the power for the room before talking to the soldier. This still didn’t save the guy, as he’d been outfitted with a collar bomb that was shortly detonated remotely. Soon after the soldier was killed, Lucas activated an explosive he’d strapped to Chris’ arm at an earlier point in the game. I was given a time limit to find some liquid nitrogen canisters to temporarily neutralize the bomb and remove it. Death #5 occurred because I didn’t make it before the clock ran out.

Similar follies plagued me through the remainder of the game, and I believe I died a total of nine times. While I was happy to make it through Not a Hero, I was left to reflect on my disappointment with the story.

It hit me, once I finished the game, that Chris is starting to develop a reputation for failing to save the team members he’s working alongside. The same premise was used in Resident Evil 6 and the recent anime film, Vendetta. At the very least, I would have liked to see this point addressed in Not a Hero — either through some inner monologue from Chris or through a philosophical debate between him and Lucas.

I feel that Chris’ failings is the meaning behind the DLC title. It is possible that on some level he no longer views himself as heroic. I have to wonder if this storyline is building toward something big. I see two possible outcomes to this scenario: either Chris decides to throw in the towel and retire out of shame, or he encounters a situation that redeems him and possibly has him sacrificing himself for the greater good.

My dissatisfaction with Not a Hero was surpassed by the other DLC, End of Zoe. The secondary game focused on Lucas’ sister, Zoe, who is infected with the virus present in Resident Evil 7. The basic plot is that her Uncle Joe – an ex-marine – finds her and strives to locate a cure for her.

Joe is essentially a character who relies largely on his fists to take down the creatures standing between him and the means to save his niece. My main nitpick with this scenario is the excessive number of locations where you can save the game. In one area, I could barely take twenty steps before coming to another room where I could save my progress.

As with Not a Hero, I played End of Zoe on the easiest difficulty but didn’t find it nearly as much of a challenge. Despite playing as a character whose specialty is unarmed combat, I didn’t die once during my first playthrough. I feel that perhaps the easy mode was made too easy. I hope that the medium and hard difficulty settings will put End of Zoe on par with the other DLC. I would hold the secondary game in higher regard if that’s the case.

Overall, I feel that Resident Evil 7 and its add-ons opens up some interesting doors for the future of the franchise. I look forward to whatever story comes next.

Video Games – Vintage vs. Modern

Twenty Games I’d Like to See Get a Sequel

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If there is one thing I like best about video game sequels, it would be the continuation of a story or enhancement of a casual game. While I love hearing news of an upcoming installment that will add to a series I enjoy, there are many games I’ve played in my lifetime that sadly never got a follow-up.

Below is my list of twenty games, including some obscure titles, I would like to see a sequel for.

1) Phantasmagoria (1995)\Puzzle of Flesh (1996) – An interactive horror game series that filmed actors against a blue screen, Phantasmagoria was quite innovative for the technology of its time. While the original entry and its sequel, Puzzle of Flesh, told stories unrelated to each other, they were the most suspenseful and goriest games I’d ever played up to that point. If the company that produced them hadn’t gone out of business, it would have been interesting to see the series evolve with the times.

2) Portal 2 (2011) — I love the Portal series for its interesting blend of logistical puzzles and humorous stories. It centers around a mute girl named Chell who is being used as a test subject in an underground facility run by a sadistic artificial intelligence called Glados. While Chell is let out into the surface world at the end of Portal 2, it shouldn’t necessarily mean the series is over. I feel that there are other stories that could be told – maybe even with a different protagonist. I hold out hope for news of a third game on the horizon.

3) Gauntlet Legends (1998)\Dark Legacy (2000) – Gauntlet Legends and Dark Legacy both exist as bold, larger than life reimagining of the original two-dimensional game from 1985. Legends took the basic concept and made it a hundred times better with a three-dimensional environment and more resources to keep the player’s character alive. Legends and Dark Legacy were so enjoyable that they had me visiting the local arcade on a weekly basis. What’s even better is that the arcade game saved my progress and character level because I typed in a password on the machine. While I wish that there was a sequel to expand on the two existing games, they remain some of my all-time favorite dungeon-crawlers.

4) Command and Conquer: Renegade (2002) — While I am a fan of the Command and Conquer franchise in general, Renegade stands out for being the only game in the series to let you assume control of a single character rather than directing one army to fight another. In Renegade, you step into the shoes of a commando named Havoc who takes on missions to destabilize an evil organization. I spent countless hours playing and replaying levels on all difficulty settings. I would have liked to see another Command and Conquer game use the same formula. But since the production company went out of business a year later, it seems all I can do is dream.

5) Emperor: Battle for Dune (2001) — Though loosely derived from writer Frank Herbert’s Dune series, Emperor tells an equally intriguing story centered around a battle between three factions to seize control of a planet holding the galaxy’s most valuable resource. I spent countless hours with the roleplaying strategy game, sometimes spending half a day just trying to get through a single mission. The ending of the game remained the same no matter which faction was picked and was left very open-ended. I would have loved to see a follow-up that would answer some questions about the conclusion of Emperor. Unfortunately, the same company – Westwood Studios — behind Command and Conquer was also the one that produced Emperor: Battle for Dune. The closure of the company pretty much guaranteed that a sequel would never come.

6) Fable III (2010) – Though I don’t consider Fable III as the best PC game I’ve ever played, it still had good qualities I’d like to see improved upon in a fourth entry. In Fable III, you play as a young prince or princess – dependent on player preference – whose older brother is a cruel ruler who is asking for a revolution. The younger sibling escapes the palace and proceeds to forge alliances to take back the kingdom. The player decides if the main character will be a benevolent or downright evil ruler. But I feel there could have been better ways to exemplify the paths chosen. For me, it’s very off-putting to see the main character show his or her willingness for evil by farting in someone’s face. Sadly, the series hit a dead end following the release of a standalone game in 2012. Since the company behind the Fable series – Lionhead Studios – closed down in 2016, there may never be a Fable IV.

7) King’s Quest: Mask of Eternity (1998) – The only thing that this particular game has in common with the first seven entries in the King’s Quest series is the title. Mask of Eternity is a role-playing, dungeon-crawler game that hardly seems to fit with a series of point-and-click fantasy games. Nevertheless, Mask of Eternity is very enjoyable for what it is. While I never made it all the way to the end thanks to a game glitch that halted my progress, it would be nice to see a follow-up in the same vein.

8) Dead Island: Riptide (2013) – The Dead Island series consists of the most intense zombie survival horror games I’ve ever played. Both the original game and Riptide are hardcore enough to have me angrily cursing every five to ten minutes. There are also moments where I’ve felt like a total bad-ass with some of the zombie kills I got. The first two games are set on separate islands in an archipelago where an outbreak has occurred and both games allow you to play as one of 4 to 5 characters with different strengths. There was an announcement for a Dead Island 2 – to be set in California of all places – that was scheduled to be released in 2015. But production problems resulted in the sequel never seeing the light of day. Whether it will ever be released is anyone’s guess.

9) Oregon Trail 2 (1995) – Oregon Trail 2 is an excellent educational simulation game where the player strives to get pioneers safely from their starting point to a new life in the west. I can’t even count the number of times I attempted to traverse the trail, but most of my playthroughs ended with the wagons getting trapped in a mountain pass during the winter. I feel that a potential third game would be outstanding with today’s technology. I strongly hope to see Oregon Trail 3 become a reality someday.

10) Icebreaker (1995) – Of all the games I’ve played in my lifetime, Icebreaker wins top marks for being the most unique. It is an addictive arcade-type game where the player controls a 3D triangular icon that can shoot bullets or smash certain objects in the game by ramming them. The goal to beating each level is to completely destroy a grid of pyramids. Some examples of what makes it challenging are that the stationary pyramids require different methods to demolish, while the mobile pyramids can kill the player-controlled icon if they catch it. As if that didn’t ramp up the difficulty enough, there are also hidden traps or hazards to watch out for, such as a pit to fall into. I got so much enjoyment from Icebreaker that I’m sad it never got a bigger and better sequel.

Top (L-R) Altered Beast, Phantasmagoria, Command and Conquer: Renegade
Middle (L-R) Plants vs. Zombies 2, Super Puzzle Fighter II, Maniac Mansion
Bottom (L-R) Battle Slots, Dead Island: Riptide, Icebreaker, Darkseed II (photo credits at end)

11) Plants vs. Zombies 2 (2013) – The Plants vs. Zombies series consists of games that are kid-friendly, but still very enjoyable. It is exactly what the title suggests and consists of the player picking a roster of eight to nine plants per level to ward off zombie attacks. When I first heard news of a sequel to the original game from 2009, I was ecstatic – until I found out it would only be playable on an Android device instead of a PC. I greatly hope that there will be a Plants vs. Zombies 3 someday and that it will be compatible with a device that I actually own.

12) Maniac Mansion (1987)\Day of the Tentacle (1993) – Maniac Mansion was a comical puzzle game series that was so challenging I had to frequently look at hints on how to get through it. While the plot was too bizarre to try to make sense of – a mad scientist kidnaps a college girl because he’s being mind-controlled by a meteor – the game greatly appealed to me at my young age. Day of the Tentacle brought back some of the characters from Maniac Mansion, but there’s no way I could summarize the plot in a way that would do it justice. I would have liked to see a continuation, but I guess there was only so much weirdness that the series’ production team could come up with.

13) Age of Mythology (2002) – Age of Mythology is one of the best strategic battle games I’ve played and features tons of elements from Greek, Egyptian, and Norse mythology. The game also has an epic story that sees heroes from each civilization band together to prevent the release of the imprisoned Titans. Most levels allow you to utilize God powers, such as summoning an earthquake, to help defeat the enemy armies. Good luck on figuring out how to get through the game on the hardest difficulty – I never could, but I still enjoyed playing it very much. I recently learned that there was an expansion pack – which focuses on Chinese mythology — developed last year for a remastered version of Age of Mythology. But I still would very much like to see a sequel made.

14) Origamo (1994) – Origamo is a casual puzzle game that’s similar to Tetris and consists largely of using polygonal shapes to fill in a given origami-like image for each level. While it might not have appealed to everyone – especially since it seemed impossible to beat the game on the hardest difficulty setting – it is one that holds a special place in my heart. Part of me will always wish it had been popular enough to warrant a sequel.

15) Altered Beast (1988) – A game I was frequently drawn to during trips to the arcade, Altered Beast is a side-scrolling fighting game that pits the generic main character against a wide variety of supernatural monsters. During each stage, the player can use power-ups to transform their character into a beast – such as a werewolf or were-tiger – to better decimate the monsters encountered. I loved this game so much when it was still around that I once spent an entire day feeding quarters into the machine just to get all the way through it. What I would love even more is to see a modernized version of it made available for gamers.

16) Darkseed II (1995) – The Darkseed games hold the distinction of being a showcase for the artwork of H.R. Giger, the artist who designed the title creature in the popular Alien film franchise. Aside from being visually stunning, this sci-fi PC series has some good stories. The basic plot for both games has a man named Mike Dawson striving to stop aliens – from a place called the Darkworld – from succeeding in a plot to destroy the Earth. It disappointed me that Mike was killed at the end of the second game. I often felt that the story shouldn’t have stopped there. I’ve seen many other video games come up with something creative to bring a supposedly dead character back to life. It’s doubtful that the Darkworld aliens would have stopped aiming for Armageddon. It would really be nice to see the series revitalized after all this time, but I won’t hold my breath.

17) Mystery P.I. (2007 – 2011) – Mystery P.I. is the collective title given to a series of hidden object games for the PC. Featuring elaborately designed levels, Mystery P.I. really made it a challenge to locate all the objects on the given list. It is a series that easily could have kept going, but sadly came to an end after the release of the eighth game.

18) SimCoaster (2001) – I know there are a lot of video games that allow the player to build their own theme park, but I regard SimCoaster as a personal favorite just for its simplicity. It is another game I never got to play all the way through thanks to some bugs in the code, but it is one I never tired of. If a more modern version should ever be released, I would snap it up in a second.

19) Battle Slots (2011) – Battle Slots is a highly creative video game that combines slot machines with a duel-to-the-death fighting game. Your victory in battle against your opponent is dependent on how many good spins you get on the slots. The concept is so original and innovative that I’m surprised a Battle Slots 2 never came to be. Fingers crossed that my hopes for a sequel will one day become a reality.

20) Super Puzzle Fighter II (1996) – Super Puzzle Fighter II, an arcade game that I frequently fed quarters to, was a combination of Tetris and Street Fighter. The primary goal was to clear rows on the Tetris board as quickly as possible to decimate the other player or computer A.I. controlled fighter. It is one game that I really miss playing, especially because I was particularly good at it.

I’m glad that I’ve lived long enough to have played so many different video games over an ever-changing landscape. It’s a far cry from the two-dimensional environment of Maniac Mansion to the realistic high definition characters and settings presented in Dead Island. For me, each of the games on this list deserves either a follow-up or modernization of a terrific concept. Whether or not a sequel comes to pass for each of them, the fond memories I hold for the games on this list will never go away.

Photo credits:

Phantasmagoria — https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/shacknews/assets/editorial/2016/04/phan2.jpg

Command and Conquer: Renegade — http://ilarge.lisimg.com/image/371631/800full-command-%26-conquer%3A-renegade-screenshot.jpg

Dead Island: Riptide — https://media.takealot.com/covers/covers/31999483/di6-zoom.jpg?1406707585

Icebreaker — http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ibEwDvznSZ4/VIcS0nERdII/AAAAAAAAMrw/xNLKn7XA97Y/s1600/Icebreaker_03.png

Plants vs. Zombies 2 — https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dims?quality=100&image_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogcdn.com%2Fwww.joystiq.com%2Fmedia%2F2013%2F06%2Fplantsvszombies2.jpg&client=cbc79c14efcebee57402&signature=82c0cf06949e670dfdd42e0f1facdf581563dd6a

Maniac Mansion — http://www.honestgamers.com/images/games/13/M/16468/16.jpg

Altered Beast — https://www.arcade-museum.com/images/118/11812416304.png

Darkseed II — https://www.cdh.cz/galerie/15503-6.jpg

Battle Slots — https://www.gamingnexus.com/Images/Article/kdxlyf3047/1.jpg

Super Puzzle Fighter II — http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/271672/5816060/1266519736607/Super-Puzzle-Fighter-II-Turbo-HD-Remix-1.jpg?token=7iVN9WJB%2Bq9Ggza6oG9xUzNCHw0%3D